The halls of Vincennes University鈥檚 campus on the north side may sound silent to people who can hear.

That鈥檚 intentional. Students who want to become American Sign Language interpreters need complete immersion into a world where most communication is already happening through ASL. That鈥檚 why the campus is located at the Indiana School for the Deaf.

痴颈苍肠别苍苍别蝉鈥� program is unique: Professors are deaf and teach classes in ASL; and students are also surrounded by Indiana School for the Deaf teachers and students, especially at events outside of class.

鈥淭he second that we walk in these doors and we walk into a classroom, our voices have to be off,鈥� said Abigayle Suding, a first-year student. 鈥淚t’s all sign language.鈥�

Vincennes professors know ASL is more than a means of communication. By sharing their lived experiences of being deaf, faculty help bring students who can hear into the Deaf community and culture.

鈥淲ithout one, you cannot understand the other,鈥� department chair Bonnie Conner said through an ASL interpreter. 鈥淭hat culture is ingrained in deaf people, and therefore, they are the only ones who can truly and authentically teach it to other people.鈥�

Learning Deaf culture

Though Vincennes University鈥檚 main campus is in southern Indiana, Indianapolis has a large and vibrant Deaf community. In 2020, Marion County was home to over 78,000 deaf and hard of hearing people, .

Faculty wanted students to be able to interact with the community and attend events in Indianapolis, which gives students insights they can鈥檛 learn in the classroom. Knowing that culture will ultimately help students become better at ASL, Conner said.

鈥淵ou can teach it and teach it and teach it all day long,鈥� Conner said. 鈥淗owever, when it’s time and you can actually see and witness it and be involved in it in real time, that is something that cannot be taught.鈥�

痴颈苍肠别苍苍别蝉鈥� program, which has about 40 students, offers associate degrees and certificates, as well as some dual credit options for high schoolers. A majority of the students go on to receive their bachelor’s degrees in ASL interpreting.

Learning ASL as a language goes far beyond signing the alphabet. The language has its own grammar and syntax, which includes using facial expressions to communicate your tone.

As part of the program, students also take Deaf culture and community classes. In addition to Deaf history, students learn about cultural nuances, such as turning lights on and off to get attention.

For Conner, it鈥檚 important to communicate to her students that deaf people are not broken and live independent, fulfilling lives.

But she also wants to highlight the barriers she and other deaf people face every day, trying to communicate in a world that鈥檚 set up for people who can hear.

鈥淭eaching these hearing students that it is their jobs to be working alongside us instead of against us, and how to learn how to be advocates for us as well,鈥� she said, 鈥淭hat’s the main goal.鈥�

Many of the students in the program are pursuing careers as ASL interpreters, hoping to fill a critical shortage of interpreters both nationwide and in Indiana. In Indiana, there are only about 200 nationally certified interpreters, according to .

鈥淲e are in desperate need of interpreters, and we need them, at least to communicate,鈥� Conner said. 鈥淚t’s very difficult because so few hearing people actually know American Sign Language.鈥�

Bridging the gap

For Suding and Ethan Akamu, another Vincennes first-year student, signing doesn鈥檛 end in the classroom.

鈥淲e sign the majority of the time,鈥� Akamu said. 鈥淲e probably sign more than we talk. Even in public, people think we’re deaf because we sign.鈥�

Akamu took ASL in high school, where he 鈥渇ell in love with the language.鈥� As a hearing person who鈥檚 involved in the Deaf community, it鈥檚 important to him to share it with the people in his life.

鈥淣ot a lot of hearing people know how to communicate with the Deaf culture and Deaf community,鈥� Akamu said. 鈥淚 want to help bridge that gap so that there’s not as much of a communication barrier.鈥�

Like Akamu, many students in the program have previously taken ASL in high school. But some have even deeper connections to the community.

Marybeth Goodwin, 25, is a child of deaf adults. Her first language was ASL, and she鈥檚 been signing all her life. She鈥檚 hoping to become an interpreter to continue to serve the community her parents raised her in.

Goodwin, a first-year student, hopes more schools will start offering ASL, especially to young kids. As a hearing person, she wants the world to be a more inclusive place for the Deaf community, which has always welcomed her with open arms.

鈥淲e’ve always got to keep up with that,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd learn and be an ally for them.鈥�

About 痴颈苍肠别苍苍别蝉鈥� Indianapolis campus

Vincennes University鈥檚 ASL and Deaf Studies program is located at the Indiana School for the Deaf, 1200 42nd St.

You can .

Vincennes also has a flight school located at , where students study aviation technology.

Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young contributed to this story.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

American Sign Language will count as a foreign language credit in Mississippi high schools, under a law that goes into effect July 1.

The force behind Senate Bill 2339 is Pearl Rver County high school teacher Loveless. Loveless teaches art and ASL at Pearl River Central High School. She fell in love with ASL as a teenager, which led her to becoming a special education teacher.

鈥淢y hope for this new curriculum is not just for our students whether they are hearing, hard of hearing, or deaf. My hope is that we can grow as a community to accept everyone no matter their hearing abilities,鈥� she said.

The new law calls for the state Board of Education to develop a curriculum related to the study of sign language and for any such class to count as an academic credit for a foreign language to meet high school graduation requirements.

Loveless got the idea for the bill after learning that there鈥檇 never been an effort in the Legislature to make ASL a foreign language in Mississippi schools. She reached out to state Sen. Angela Hill, R-Picayune, through the lawmaker鈥檚 grandson, who took one of Loveless鈥� sign language classes.

Hill said the law can incentivize hearing people to become translators. 鈥淭he hope is that more young people will learn to communicate sign language and lead to potential careers in the field as translators for the hearing impaired,鈥� she said in an email.

There is a problem of children with disabilities lacking sufficient accommodations in Mississippi schools. Chauncey Spears, whose daughter is deaf, says the new law will help deaf students who use ASL as their first language.

Spears says there is a lack of support for deaf students who use ASL as their first language. Many teachers lack proper training, making it easier for students to fall behind.

He said parents and leaders at the Mississippi School for the Deaf started a movement to allow the state to classify deaf and hard-of-hearing students as English language learners. ASL is not English, and there is no written ASL for students to access written content in courses required for graduation.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing students must learn written English, the language of most textbooks and other instructional materials.

Spears hopes this curriculum change will be the first step towards change.

鈥淲e are learning that there is untapped potential in these students and that their needs and potential can be better met with the proper investments and training and educational practices that can prove to be successful,鈥� he said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Moved by his cousin鈥檚 plight, Juarez designed a tool to help the deaf community 鈥� a device that uses a camera to translate sign language into a written and spoken form.

Through the first-ever this Saturday, April 13, Juarez will be one of to present their inventions and research projects that address solutions to critical global issues.

The festival will showcase student innovators from numerous nationwide competitions, including EXPLR鈥檚 where more than 2,500 students in grades 6-12 conceived and submitted STEM projects across six categories: Environmental Stewardship, Future Foods, Health & Medicine, Powering the Planet, Tech for Good and Space Innovation.

鈥淎ll of these kids are so cool and have such incredible projects that it鈥檚 going to be bananas,鈥� Kari Byron, co-founder of and director of the festival, told 蜜桃影视.

Byron said the festival idea grew out of a conversation she had with the U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

Byron, who previously hosted the Obama administration鈥檚 , pitched a plan to design a larger version of the former event.

鈥淚 looked at him and said 鈥榃hat if we built it for you? What if we make it bigger and better than it has ever been before,鈥欌�� Byron said. 鈥淪o it’s not a continuation of the White House Science Fair 鈥� it鈥檚 a completely new festival that鈥檚 going to be so much bigger because we want a national conversation about STEM 365 days a year.鈥�

Jenny Buccos, co-founder and chief executive officer of EXPLR, said the festival is a great way for school leaders and decision makers to learn more about 鈥渨hat kids are interested in and what we might not be teaching in schools.鈥�

鈥淗ow are they learning to make patent pending medical devices? How are they learning about protecting their IP? Where is this happening, and if it鈥檚 not in the traditional classroom, how do we bridge that gap,鈥� Buccos told 蜜桃影视.

Students like Juarez, 17, are excited to have the platform to present projects centered around what they are passionate about.

鈥淭his opportunity is confirmation that people care about the hearing impaired and deaf鈥nd is a great way for me to continue to educate more people,鈥� Juarez told 蜜桃影视.

Buccos said the public has the opportunity to meet the students and see their inventions through more than 100 and events in Washington, DC.

鈥淚f you are in desperate need of inspiration and hope for the future, come to the events鈥his is the opportunity to meet some of the most brilliant young minds working in the country,鈥� Buccos said.

鈥淓verybody says kids are the future,鈥� said Buccos, 鈥渂ut these kids are literally solving problems now.鈥�

To check out the National STEM Festival this Saturday, the public must to secure their spot.

Comments and questions from the justices seemed to lean toward yes.

鈥淎ll she wants is to be compensated for what she says occurred to her during the period of her education,鈥� Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said, offering a hypothetical example of a senior who wants to drop out. 鈥淒oes she have to sit in front of a hearing officer and talk about ways in which her education could be changed?鈥� 

While the arguments in the case are complex, they come down to whether Congress meant for students to give up their rights under IDEA 鈥� which does not provide monetary damages 鈥� in order to bring a lawsuit seeking a financial award under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Advocates for students with disabilities argue that was never the intention of the law, while those representing school districts are concerned about the potential for 鈥渄ual-track litigation鈥� under both IDEA and ADA.

鈥淭hat could be extremely expensive for districts,鈥� said Sasha Pudelski, advocacy director for AASA, the School Superintendents Association. A ruling in favor of the plaintiff, she added, 鈥渉as the potential to shift parents鈥� and districts鈥� focus to money rather than educational needs.鈥�

The case, , focuses on a deaf immigrant from Mexico, now 27, who entered the Michigan district in 2004, when he was 9. The district assigned Miguel Perez to an aide who didn鈥檛 know American Sign Language and invented hand signals to communicate with him. 

鈥淭his shameful conduct permanently stunted Miguel’s ability to communicate with the outside world,鈥� said his attorney Roman Martinez. 

The family sued and agreed to a settlement under IDEA that allowed Perez to attend Michigan School for the Deaf. But his parents also sought monetary damages for emotional distress and lost income under ADA.

Shay Dvoretzky, representing the school district, said Congress didn鈥檛 want families to do an end run around the administrative process outlined in special education law 鈥� such as attending a resolution conference and filing a formal complaint 鈥� in order to seek damages.

鈥淐ongress carefully crafted those procedures, and it wanted parents and school districts to go through them鈥� in order to ensure the student receives appropriate services, he said.

But Justice Elena Kagan, one of the liberals on the court, said it鈥檚 unlikely families would pass up services for a child under IDEA in order to reserve their right to sue.

鈥淚t’s the parents that have the greater incentive to get the education fixed for their child,鈥� she said. 

鈥楥annot remedy the harm鈥�

Rebecca Spar, an attorney with the New Jersey-based Education Law Center, who has argued special education cases, said a key issue is Perez鈥檚 age. His parents brought the case after the district told him he would be eligible only for a certificate of completion, not a diploma.

If a child is denied services at a young age, the educational relief provided through IDEA can make a real difference in the child鈥檚 future, she said. But the options for older students are far more limited. 

鈥淲hen you get older, there are all kinds of complications,鈥� she said. 鈥漈hen you cannot remedy the harm.鈥�

Kagan and Dvoretzky also exchanged words over the meaning of relief. Dvoretzky suggested it doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean money and that it was sufficient for the district to address Perez鈥檚 loss of an appropriate education by getting him into the school for the deaf.

鈥淚t’s 鈥� a situation where you may not get what you ask for, but you get what you need,鈥� he said.

But Kagan said it鈥檚 clear what the family is seeking. 

鈥淚t’s relief in the normal sense: What did you get? How much money was put on the table?鈥� she said.

If the court rules for Perez, it鈥檚 possible districts would include language in any IDEA settlement that parents are giving up their rights to sue under other laws. 

鈥淭hat would close the door for ADA relief,鈥� Pudelski said.

Martinez said he can鈥檛 predict whether the court will allow Perez鈥檚 ADA lawsuit to move forward, but the decision has 鈥渋mportant implications not only for Miguel, but for parents and students across the country.鈥�

A lower court ruled that Miguel Perez, now an adult, is not entitled to sue for monetary damages for emotional distress or lost income under the American with Disabilities Act because his family settled the case under special education law. 

鈥淭he parents were really over a barrel here,鈥� said Mark Weber, a law professor at DePaul University in Chicago who co-wrote to the court on behalf of the plaintiff. 鈥淭hey needed to get services right away for this kid. The kid鈥檚 not getting any younger.鈥�

While the case, , delves into the complex procedural rules that govern special education, it speaks to the frustration many families whose children have disabilities feel in systems that often seem stacked against them. Navigating that legal landscape is even trickier for immigrant families, who are 鈥渓ikely unfamiliar with U.S. school systems鈥� and are unused to the 鈥渋dea of children with disabilities having a right to education,鈥� said Cady Landa, a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who has the obstacles immigrant families face when seeking special education services. 

Immigrant parents, she said, are often unsure how to talk to school staff and may have 鈥渟maller social circles that are less likely to include other parents who have navigated special education for their children.鈥� 

The Perez lawsuit asks whether families can sue for damages under other federal laws that prohibit discrimination even if they haven鈥檛 exhausted their rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Act, or IDEA. Perez鈥檚 petition argues that there鈥檚 a conflict in the lower courts over this issue. 

But lawyers for the Sturgis district disagree. They also note that the Supreme Court ruled last year that the Americans with Disabilities Act for emotional distress and that Perez changed his request to ask for lost income.

鈥淣ow he says in his reply that he wants to amend his complaint,鈥� they wrote. 鈥淭oo late.鈥�

鈥楢cademic and social outcast鈥�

Perez, now 27, entered the Sturgis, Michigan, school district in 2004 as a 9-year-old deaf English learner from Mexico. The district assigned him a classroom aide who didn鈥檛 know sign language and even made up hand signals to try to communicate with Perez, according to court documents.

鈥淭here was one other deaf student, but we couldn鈥檛 communicate with each other,鈥� he said in a statement provided through an interpreter. 

As he got older, the assistant would often leave Perez alone for hours, 鈥渞endering him unable to learn or communicate with others and making him an academic and social outcast,鈥� according to his lawyers.

Despite not being able to read or write, Perez received A鈥檚 and B鈥檚 and made the honor roll every semester. But just weeks before he was set to graduate in 2016, the district told his parents that he would only be eligible for a certificate of completion, not a diploma.

The case, Landa added, points to the need for more translation and interpretation services, specifically for newcomer families whose children have disabilities.

In 2017, the family filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Education, arguing that the district violated IDEA, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, as well as two state laws.

In 2018, they settled the IDEA claim. The district agreed to place Perez in the Michigan School for the Deaf, pay for additional services and provide the family with sign language instruction. The district also paid the family鈥檚 attorney鈥檚 fees.

But that left the remaining complaints under the other laws unresolved, leading the family to file a lawsuit in federal district court, asking for social work services and additional financial relief. 

鈥淚 wish I could have gone to college,鈥� Perez said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a job, but I want to have one. I want to make my own choices.鈥�

The 6th Circuit ruled the family wasn鈥檛 eligible to sue because their IDEA complaint never went to a hearing.

鈥楾rying to settle鈥�

The special education complaint process allows parents multiple opportunities to avoid drawn-out legal battles so children can be served as soon as possible. Districts automatically hold and can offer settlements before parents go to court.

鈥淎ll the way, you鈥檙e trying to settle,鈥� said Rebecca Spar, a special education attorney with the New Jersey-based Education Law Center. 

In in support of the school district, administrator organizations 鈥� such as AASA, the School Superintendents Association and the National Association of School Nurses 鈥� argued that a decision in favor of Perez would 鈥渦ndermine the collaborative nature of the IDEA process, and will shift the parties鈥� focus to money rather than the student鈥檚 education needs.鈥�

Another issue is the cost of litigation, which often discourages families from suing.

鈥淚f you decide not to settle with them, they just start running up the legal bills. Our trial was eight days,鈥� said Hayley Grunvald, a San Diego-area parent who is awaiting the outcome of the Perez case. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unaffordable for any parent. I don鈥檛 buy Prada bags. I shop at Walmart.鈥�

She filed a complaint against the San Dieguito Union High School District, arguing that officials didn鈥檛 evaluate her son Adrian for special education even though they knew he received accommodations and services for ADHD in a prior district.

In December, a judge agreed that the district should have assessed Adrian, but the family lost on other technical points and plans to appeal.

Experts expected the Supreme Court to settle the issues before the court in Perez back in 2017 when they heard . In that case, the Supreme Court found in favor of another Michigan family who sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 when officials wouldn鈥檛 allow a service dog to accompany their daughter to school. 

The girl has cerebral palsy and the dog helps her stay balanced while using a walker, opens and closes doors and provides other services that help her be more independent. The family sought monetary damages, saying their daughter experienced 鈥渆motional distress and pain, embarrass颅ment, [and] mental anguish.鈥�

The appellate court had ruled that the family would have to exhaust the IDEA process before suing under other laws even though it wasn鈥檛 a special education case. The Supreme Court disagreed, but left open the question of whether a family still has to seek relief under IDEA given that monetary damages aren鈥檛 available under that law.

鈥淗ad it clarified everything,鈥� said Weber at DePaul University, 鈥渨e probably wouldn鈥檛 have this case.鈥�